Ace nods, presenting his arm. The solar system is tattooed neatly across his inner wrist, the planets in shades of black and white. It’s a simple design, not meant to be flashy. It fits him perfectly.

“I got it on my sixteenth birthday. I had to forge a note from my dad and drive to New Jersey, but it was worth it.”

My jaw drops. “You did what? How are you still alive?”

“He doesn’t know yet,” Ace says, a mischievous glint in his eye. “I usually wear a watch over it.”

“You’re ridiculous.” I shake my head. “I hope for your sake that he never finds out.”

“What’s the worst that can happen if he does?” Ace asks, shrugging. “I’ll be fine. It’s not like I got a tramp stamp.”

Right. Our situations are different. Even as I learn more about him, Ace remains an oddity to me, someone bold and defiant. Things that I can’t help but be drawn to, even as they leave me reeling.

I have a better understanding of him than I did before, but there are still some things I can’t put my finger on. Mysteries yet to be unraveled. I still don’t even know why he asked to be tutored, much less why he orchestrated the fake dating situation. I understand parts of it, but the rest is muddled.

After watching him in the car with Samir, a firm resolve has taken place. A conversation sits on the tip of my tongue, and with two blocks between us and the bowling alley, I’m tempted to give in.

In light of my discussion with Fatima, it’ll be good to know all the facts. If this is something I’m going to take a chance on, if this is something I have to put everything at risk for at some point in the future, I need to know it’s worth it. I need to know with absolute certainty that this isn’t just a passing amusement for Ace. Not when it’s growing to mean so much to me. “Why did you arrange this?”

Unsurprisingly, Ace isn’t following my random train of thought. “Huh?”

“The tutoring thing,” I say, biting my lip. “And the whole fake relationship thing.”

“What do you mean?”

I shrug, even as my brain buzzes, my leg bounces, my fingers tremble. “Everyone knows your reputation. I’ve seen it myself. You don’t care about school, and you definitely don’t care about your classmates. Why bother studying for English? And why bring me home, where you’d have to explain the situation to your dad? I just don’t get it, I guess.”